Snow, Snow, and more Snow… The snow has finally started to come this week and each morning I wake up to a little bit more snow. While we were driving from the university to Yvonne’s apartment it was snowing, when I got up this morning there was even more snow, and this morning on my walk to school it started snowing again. The snow is very beautiful as it is falling from the sky. It even makes the dark nights seem just a little bit brighter outside with the reflection off the snow.
Last night, I had another cultural experience. As I told you yesterday we were having dinner with Lennart and Yvonne. We went over to her apartment where she cooked us a fabulous dinner and the five of us had class with Lennart. We talked about our experiences being in the schools, the positives, and suggestions for future students who are studying abroad from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. As we were talking we were discussing the differences in the school and we all had different perspectives. Lennart explained that I had a different view of being in the school rather than the other girls because I was in the experience by myself. As a person, I learned a lot about being placed in another school. The more I thought about my experience, I am extremely glad that I took this opportunity to study abroad. It gave me a perspective on how students feel when they move from another country, state, city, or neighborhood. This experience reminded me of something I once went through and I did not realize it until we were talking last night.
When I was younger, my family lived in Canada for a few years because of my dad’s job. I started kindergarten in Canada and a few months later we were moving back to the United States. When my parents moved us back to the United States for my dad’s job, I finished off my kindergarten year in the U.S. When I first started kindergarten, I did not know the pledge of allegiance because it is not something they say in Canada. My teacher called my mom in concern that I was not saying the pledge. She must have thought I was being disrespectful or something. My mom later explained that I did not know the pledge because I had lived in Canada for two years. Later my teacher taught me the pledge and the problem was solved. I was once one of the students moving to the United States from another country. Now I am an educator that has experienced living in another country not only once (even though I do not remember it much) but I have now experienced it twice. I have lived in Sweden for six weeks, been in a Swedish classroom, and have realized that students are going to move from various places throughout the school year. I understand what it is like being in a classroom where English is not the primary language, but I am teaching the students how to talk English. I have learned how to use my surroundings to understand the Swedish language that they speak. The students have learned from me and I have learned from them. They taught me not to be scared but to be strong. I believe this experience had helped me not only as a future educator but a student as well. The students and staff at Linblommans skola have welcomed me into their school and their classroom. I am very grateful for this experience. I have a perspective that is extremely helpful when I will be working with other students who have moved from a different country, county, city, and “feel” like the outsider moving into a new school. I have a new insight into this perspective and have learned how to work through the challenges that have created a valuable learning experience for me. I was pulled out of my comfort zone and I am very grateful for this experience. It would not have happened if I did not have the support of everyone around me. I am proud of the experience and how I have embraced this challenge. Not only has this own semester helped me become a stronger teacher but this experience has also helped me tremendously to understand what student’s experience.
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| Making Saffransbröd with some of the students. |
After we finished talking, Yvonne explained that it was time for dinner. Dinner consisted of REINDEER, potatoes, salad, and bread. We started the night drinking Glögg (a Swedish Christmas drink) while we were discussing our experiences and realizing what we have learned in these last four weeks being in the classroom. Then Yvonne served us dinner. We started with passing the potatoes, then the salad, the bread and then the reindeer dinner. The dinner was fabulous! I never had reindeer before, I would never even try deer at home, but I tried reindeer. I have tried a variety of Swedish foods and I am told to try even more before I leave! We were very thankful last night the meal that Yvonne made for us and letting us come over for dinner.
Today, the students listened one of my favorite Christmas books. We listened to The Polar Express online since they do not have the story here and I did not have enough room to fit it in my suitcase. Afterwards, we were talking about some of the Swedish Christmas traditions and some of the American Christmas traditions. I even showed them a few video clips of the Christmas parade that we watch on Sundays and they showed me video clips of the Donald Duck Christmas shows that they watch on Christmas day. They even learned more about Lucia and who she was. It was a wonderful day sharing some of the American Traditions and the Swedish Traditions for the holiday season.
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| My baking sheet of Saffransbröd. |
After lunch, some of the sixth grade students were making Saffransbröd (Saffron Bread). This is Swedish traditional bread that they eat during Lucia. I also got involved in making the bread. The students made the dough and I helped shaped them in to an “s” shape and add raisins to the bread. You can say I was getting my heads down and dirty making some Saffransbröd. We were back making the bread today and tomorrow the students will get to eat the bread during school. It was quite an experience; it reminded me of making bread rolls by kneading the dough and shaping it into a shape. From making the dough to baking it in the oven, it took about two hours to complete the whole process. It makes me want to go home and bake a bunch of my favorite cookies and treats for Christmas!
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